Snowden claims US spy sensor ‘in NZ’

Stuff.co.nz

Internet Party founder Kim Dotcom has revealed his 'Moment of Truth' with guests Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Glenn Greenwald.

Edward Snowden claims there is a US National Security Agency facility in Auckland and in the north of New Zealand.

The former US contractor-turned-fugitive whistleblower was beamed into the Auckland Town Hall from Russia for Kim Dotcom's "Moment of Truth" event.

As an NSA infrastructure analyst he "realised the absolute scale of how deep this went."

Hours beforehand, in a report on the website of journalist Glenn Greenwald, Snowden claimed that while working for the US NSA he "routinely" came across the communications of New Zealanders while working in the XKeyscore mass surveillance tool.

"It allows total, granular access to the database of communications collected in the course of mass surveillance. It is not limited to or even used largely for the purposes of cybersecurity, as has been claimed, but is instead used primarily for reading individuals private email, text messages, and internet traffic," he wrote.

A network of sensors placed around the world would allow him to search on an email address. One of those sensors is in New Zealand.

Snowden said X-Keyscore is collecting the communications of people in New Zealand and it is not related to foreign intelligence.

Snowden said that within the Five Eyes intelligence network, New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)contributes to the collection of communications.

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Snowden claims US spy sensor 'in NZ'